Miller's Time to Rant Again
Those who supported Dennis Miller’s former live HBO show – and you know which one you are – probably found some comfort in that his new “Unfiltered Sports” hour-long debut on Versus (Tuesdays, 7 and 10 p.m., with repeats at 8 and 11 p.m. on Wednesday and 7 p.m. Thursday) will follow pretty close to that old format.
Not sure if that’s the good or the bad news, but that took a lot of the guesswork out of trying to confuse the audience even more than need be.
What it means is you’ve got the sports-related monologue, then the studio goes dark with the spotlight comes on to add dramatic effect as he gets serious on a sports-related rant, then to the desk to do some remotes where guests are waiting to converse on a giant screen, and then the climax with a sports-related photo montage that gives him the platform to laugh at his clever captioning before he says he’s “outta here.”
Highlights from the first “Unfiltered” (or “Unfettered” as one newspaper decided to call it) included Miller going off on a diatribe about loyalty in sports, noting that there was not one member of the Dodgers’ 2004 playoff team who remained on their ’06 playoff roster: “There is less turnover in the snuff film industry,” he quipped.
NBC’s Al Michaels, appearing via remote from his backyard wrapped in a heavy jacket with a plaid scarf around him, sporting sun glasses and a ballcap with the Google logo on it, caused Miller, his former ABC “Monday Night Football” broadcast partner, to ask:: “What’s up, Al, you look like FDR at Warm Springs.” Michaels, who did Sunday’s game in Philadelphia, admitted he had a cold and was suffering from pink eye.
During Miller’s opening monologue, he said Versus was “a good fit” for him, “not only because of my 6-2 record as an amateur cage fighter, or my passion for bow hunting, but also because it’s programming that comes from the heart, the essence of sports.”
Those willing to head over to Santa Barbara for the show’s taping each Tuesday at the Door 9 Studios (1 N. Calle Cesar Chavez, Suite 9) are encouraged to show up two to three hours before the 1 p.m. showtime and bring a Thesaurus. Or you can go to the Versus website and submit a question for him to mock you for on the air (http://www.versus.com/askdennis)
==An Associated Press interivew with Miller before his show's debut at this link
==Miller's official radio website